


Greetings of A Wintry Warmth

by shores



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Fake Marriage, Fpreg, Hurt/Comfort, Loyalty Sex, Porn with Feelings, Princess/Knight, Vaginal Fingering, background poly relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 23:02:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15716886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shores/pseuds/shores
Summary: Princess Daria lost her kingdom and promised reign, there was only one way to heal from that.





	Greetings of A Wintry Warmth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saiditallbefore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/gifts).



 

The first time Princess Daria asked Lady Rein of house Onn to leave -- to leave her and live her life happily away from the danger that Daria's existence could bring upon her -- was on a rainy night in Loran city.

It had been four years since Princess Daria lost her parents and her kingdom to her uncle and General Hara, the love of his life, and Loran had been quiet that night.

Quiet enough for Daria to hear her whispering sorrows that had been buried under the reassuring presence of Lady Rein for a long time.

The last of the honorable Sea Knights -- her knights, Lady Rein was the one person that Daria dreaded the thought of losing, and yet, after endless pondering and hesitation, Daria drew Lady Rein's attention with a simple announcement.

The knight had been immersed in her task of fixing an old, Loranian armor.

"I... I'm relieving you from your oath, Lady Rein." Daria said, finally removing her eyes from the window overlooking the old foundry of Loran's sea fleet. "You've fulfilled your duty to me and my family, and I want you to leave and live the life you want. Th--That's my last order for you."

There was an undercurrent of tremor in Daria's voice, born out of the conflict in her heart.

She felt it fully, and hoped that Lady Rein wouldn't catch a hint of it.

Lady Rein's shock told Daria that she delivered her words well.

"Why?!" She asked with widened eyes, something vulnerable fleetingly drawn to her features.

Something _lesser_ than what she had been presenting for as long as Daria remembered: utter confidence and strength. Sheer authority and pride that all knights of the sea wore effortlessly.

  
_She was meant to be a knight,_ Daria recalled vaguely. The words of Lady Rein's guardian. _Even if she didn't have the blood of Onn, she would still make a great knight, Beloved Princess Daria. I foresee her standing by your side when you reign, just like I have stood by your father's side when his reign begun._

  
The memory aided in steeling Daria's heart as she locked eyes with Lady Rein's confused ones, but something distracted Daria in that moment.

She saw what they truly were without their titles and the power those titles brought.

Two women hiding from a furious general who stole her kingdom from her with the help of a love-struck prince. Her uncle, who was not meant to inherit the throne. Hiding and anticipating the moment they would be caught, that's what they were.

"Have I upset you, Beloved Princess?"

The title brought ache now.

"I am no longer a princess, Lady Rein." Daria said with a weak smile full of plea because the mere mention of it could agitate neglected wounds. "Please don't call me that again."

Lady Rein was silent after that, and Daria took the moment to rearrange her thoughts. To fight the weakening fear of being alone.

"I... it's been four years. My allies have done everything they could to aid us, but now we're left alone, Lady Rein." Daria walked toward their bed. "Loran is considering making diplomatic ties with our home again, it would be too dangerous to stay here."

That seemed to alert Lady Rein in a way that Daria had forgotten.

(Lady Rein was always careful, watchful of their surroundings, but ass the years passed, she lowered her guard to subtle level that wouldn't attract attention.)

"Are you suspecting of anything, Beloved Princess? I have checked every soldier who came here very carefully. They hadn't showed any sign of interest in us or our hut--"

"No, no, Lady Rein." Daria shook her head. "I'm not suspecting of anyone. Aside from King Marseal's messenger, I don't think they even realize we aren't the Loranian couple who lost their son."

Daria always wondered about them. They had left mere days before she and Lady Rein arrived Loran with the help of its king, which gave them the perfect place to hide.

Daria sometimes thought it was fate, the royal court still needed keepers for the old foundry, and she and her knight needed to be away from Loran's prying eyes.

Other times, she believed it was purely the game of chances.

"Is it even a real job?" Daria suddenly asked, feeling her voice heavy with all that she had harbored in her heart for four years. "Why do they need keepers for an empty place?"

"It is real," Lady Rein answered, approaching her. She sounded reassuring, like Daria would be hurt by the notion of it not being one. "Keepers are supposed to serve any purpose the place needs. We had keepers guarding the Forgotten Ruins because there were always travelers lost there. And often, bodies that were washed ashore." Lady Rein was informing her as though this was just any other information.

And it was, but why Daria was aching.

"For this place, they would have assigned soldiers to guard the foundry as it still has valuable tools and armor, but since the royal court took pity on the old couple, they let them have it to make a living. After all, their only child died while building _another_ royal garden."

Daria watched Lady Rein with disbelief.

"We are living a lie, Lady Rein," she began, a lump growing bigger in her throat. "With names that are not ours and... and a sacred bond that is not real. We are supposed to keep living like this until we die."

Daria felt like she was trying to uncover something that Lady Rein couldn't quite see. "Does that not upset you?"

"I took an oath," Lady Rein replied, perking up. There was a shimmer in her eyes, one that was so familiar it shook something within Daria.

"I will not betray you, and neither will King Marseal. He won't risk Loran's safety, especially with knowing that Hara never stopped looking for you." She paused. "He is also a believer, so he surely won't risk the peace of his mind by upsetting the spirit of your mother."

Daria knew that, and yet she almost fell into the comforting daze of all these facts. "You believe in spirits, too, Lady Rein?" she asked absently.

"No, but King Marseal strongly does." Lady Rein answered with a soft smile. "Your mother saved his life once, he knows that means a debt for life."

  
With that, they let the rain sing them a lullaby for a moment.

Daria felt like she returned to the very beginning of the conflict.

She wanted Lady Rein to be safe, she wanted herself to be safe, and Lady Rein was the only one who would always keep her safe. It was an endless loop.

"You are still the rightful heir to the sea throne. Even if Hara said otherwise." Lady Rein broke the silence, her unfaltered resolve that Daria knew by heart echoing with each word. She recognized it easily. "You must not give it up, not after all that you had been through."

"They have a daugher, Lady Rein." Daria countered. "She's the heir now. Do you really think I could compete with them? With Hara?"

Reality confronted Daria with her great loss once more.

"Do you think my people would welcome me? They believe I abandoned them. I _did_ abandon them." Tears gathered in Daria's eyes, her voice trembled. "I escaped."

"You had to. Hara would have killed you."

"It does not matter, I'm still a coward and unworthy in their eyes. And they are right to view me as such. And-- and if you stayed with me, the life you will be living for the rest of your days will be exactly this." Daria gestured at their warm hut. "It's a life of nothingness, Lady Rein. You won't have a future here with me. You won't have a real wife nor sire brave children." Daria tried to calm herself, to swallow the sob still stuck in her throat. "Your days will move toward nothing."

"Beloved Princess--"

"Do _not_... call me that." Daria squeezed her eyes shut when she felt her anger seeping into her voice. "Please, Lady Rein. I beg you."

Lady Rein was only a couple of years older than her, and yet Daria felt so little in front of her now. Like a youngling so naive she built a life on delusion until that delusion faded and when she discovered the truth it was too late.

How could she not see Hara coming? How could she lose her promised kingdom just like that, easily like that?

  
"I will be fine just knowing that at least you are safe and alive away from Hara's reach." Daria finished, noting the weight falling off her shoulders now that she had said what she had been trying so hard to say for the past few weeks.

Her heart shook just by imagining Lady Rein leavin and leaving her alone, however, and that only solidified Daria's awareness of her selfishness. Of her weakness.

  
When Lady Rein finally answered, she spoke with firmness. With defience and confidence.

"The only reason that will make me leave your side will be death."

That familiar tone resonated around Daria, just like the heavy rainfall outside and just like her unspoken ache.

But then Lady Rein's expression softened, and Daria was pained by the guilt.

"Lady River is dead, the Beloved King and Queen are, too, but you are not. Who to say you won't have a chance to take back what's yours?"

There was a lightness to her words that Daria thought didn't match the real extent of what they have lost, but still found comfort in.

"I-- I can live with not having that chance, ever. But you do not have to live this life." Daria tried again, her resolve shattering under the screaming need for Lady Rein to stay by her side. "I know you never wanted to be a knight, or even in the palace."

It was the only thing that Daria knew about Lady Rein that had not been shared with her by the proud Lady River, who loved Lady Rein dearly as if she was her own flesh and blood.

  
Lady Rein was surprised again.

"How--"

Daria looked away momentarily, embarrassed, then she found a bit of steadiness. "It was by accident and I left when I realized I should not be listening. But-- But I was sneaking out again when I heard you speaking with Lady River." Daria bowed her head once with respect, heat irreversibly lingering her cheeks. "I apologize, Lady Rein."

That seemed to end Lady Rein's shock.

She shook her head. "House Onn pledged loyalty to your family, to you, the rightful heir. And Lady River trusted me with her name even though I was not her child. I won't break the oath, Beloved Pr--" A ghost of a frown flashed on Lady Rein's face before she finished firmly. "Beloved Daria." Then her lips quiver in a tender smile and there it was again. The beautiful resemblance that Daria noticed long ago.

Lady River was always headstrong, speaking as though she saw the end of things and that's why she moved with confidence and contentment.

Lady Rein now did the same.

"My place is with you, always. And my duties are to be fulfilled only by death."

"But I don't want you to die for me, Lady Rein." Daria let out weakly, tears brimming over now.

She wasn't lying when she said that, wasn't trying to sound selfless because she really didn't want Lady Rein to ever get hurt. "I don't want anyone else to die for me. I failed, my parents failed. Hara won, and I don't..." Daria choked on a sob. "I don't want her to hurt you when she catches me."

Lady Rein fidgeted, taken aback by Daria's fallen tears. She attempted to calm her with a caress on her shoulder, but hesitated a second before doing that.

"I won't left her catch," Lady Rein said eventually, a promise lodged gently in her words.

  
Daria could see that her _command_ had left no effect on Lady Rein's mind. She could see it in her green eyes and the soft smile lingering on her lips. She could see it even in the strands of bale brown hair and her squared, broad shoulders.

  
The fear that she would be left along, that Lady Rein would actually leave shattered now. It dissolved into the sound of rain and the reassurance Lady Rein just gave her.

  
Stormed by her emotions, Daria leaned on Lady Rein's shoulder and cried.

Lady Rein held her in response. Her grasp was so naturally strong that Daria easily melted into it, her sobs set free.

  
Soon, Daria was hugging Lady Rein, face buried in her neck.

She felt how familiar Lady Rein was then. How she was a scent of home, a warm glimmer of the happiness and ease that shaped their old life.

Daria loved her home, her peaceful kingdom. She still did, even if she was a coward who couldn't imagine fighting Hara to get it back.

Daria always longed to return, to breathe its air again, even if she never attempted to do so.

  
Their bodies were pressed warmly, Daria had not noticed how tightly she was holding Lady Rein, but she felt drenched with her unconditional loyalty and care that with her clouded mind and streaming tears, she kissed Lady Rein's neck.

She hadn't meant to do that, Daria knew she just wanted to feel at home again.

But it felt nice that her mouth moved of its own accord and kissed Lady Rein again. And again until Daria tasted warmth and a tinge of saltiness on her tongue, and that awakened her from the numbing haze.

Lady Rein was tensed, rigid as though she was frozen even though her heat was blooming all around Daria, but she didn't let go of Daria.

She didn't let go, and the moment did not turn heavy with foreign shadows that could suffocate Daria.

Daria pulled back with a trembling heart, but met Lady Rein's eyes with all sort of things shining in her eyes.

Some she would be ashamed to admit of.

Lady Rein said nothing, and looked at her with neither disgust nor hurt. She seemed confused, but then that disappeared from her eyes, and she softly nudged Daria to bring her closer.

  
It was Daria's turn to be surprised, confused and burning with hesitation. But it was a fleeting moment that was followed by a sensation simmering wildly where her body met Lady Rein's sturdy one.

Flutters twisted deliciously as they sank into the pit of her stomach with the promise of an escape, of forgetting.

  
Daria captured her knight's lips with her own in a desperate kiss.

She tasted Lady Rein's hesitation and her own tears, but soon all faded into unfamiliar hunger and blazing desire.

 

  
They didn't talk about what happened until two days later.

Daria had spent those days giving her best to not think about how wanton and vulnerable she had been in front of Lady Rein, in her arms, while the older woman remained undeniably unaffected by the rapture that had taken over Daria.

Ignoring the images in her head was fruitless, however.

A stubborn pulse sank to her cunt as a need, easily recognizable, stormed Daria's body.

They were arranging the unwanted and broken tools and weapons that the soldiers had brought yesterday. They often brought a whole carriage of that since the new foundry was actually a heartbeat away, and they didn't want to pack it with useless and unneeded things. (They often tangled themselves in the traps Lady Rein's had set to hunt their food or alarm them in case there were strangers with ill intentions lurking near their hut, but they rarely complained rudely since they knew Lady Rein was simply doing her job at keeping the foundry protected.)

Lady Rein took care of these unwanted weapons, but when it was a big load like this, Daria would help. And well, Daria thought busying herself with regular things would take her mind off dangerous ones.

But now the pulsing lingered warmly as though she had not given the effort to forget what they have done at all, as though she had not been thoroughly ashamed of herself. Her walls clenched on nothing, needy and desperate for Lady Rein's fingers to enter her again.

Daria fought her coiling desire harder, avoiding looking at Lady Rein being unbothered by the mild sweat and the dirt clinging to her skin and clothes.

There were wisps of cold winds, but they hadn't been enough to defeat the sweet heat growing within Daria.

Daria squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed to heavens that her body and heart would stop agonizing her with both the lust and the shame.

But they didn't, so she had to face it.

"I apologize for what I've done, Lady Rein."

Bringing the matter behind her back by talking about it naturally could help her tame the heat blooming within her, she thought absentmindedly.

"I--I wasn't in my right mind," she added.

Lady Rein furrowed her brows fleetingly, but she didn't look angry. There hadn't been not even one moment where she looked at her angrily after that night.

"You have done nothing wrong, Beloved Daria," Lady Rein replied with her usual confident manner and politeness. Then she added in an afterthought. "It's my duty to always serve you."

Her words made Daria's heart pace, her eyes widened when the meaning sank in.

"That is-- no, not like that. It should not be like that." Daria hurried to explain herself. "I mean, I'm not like that. You trusted me with your loyalty, and I took advantage of it in a moment of-- of..."

It was embarrassing to think of it now. The weakness, and how lust seemed to be the cure and it needed to be sated for it to work.

"It is not your duty to fuck me when I'm sad, Lady Rein."

Lady Rein's answer to that was sudden. A blush in her cheeks, an obvious averting of her gaze. And though it was momentarily, Daria's mind somehow took it and reminded her of Lady Rein sucking and biting her nipples.

 _Of Lady Rein sighing contently while sucking her nipples._ It happened once, but Daria was able to notice it despite her shattered awareness.

Perhaps she noticed it because Lady Rein showed no other signs of arousal or even just being affected by what they were doing.

"I should not have dishonored your loyalty like that," Daria finished in a low voice, lest she revealed the tremble seizing her.

  
Lady Rein seemed to be in deep thinking then, adjusting her grips on the broken shield. (It looked like a failed attempt at creating a new shape, which wasn't surprising considering that Loran wasn't known for its skills in smithing.)

The movement reminded Daria of the strenght and skill Lady Rein's fingers held as they parted her nether lips and entered her slick heat.

Daria was immediately flushed, and quickly busied herself with the task at hand in hopes that Lady Rein wouldn't notice. However, her eyes stung with tears because she didn't know how to prevent the heat from searing through her. She felt like a bewildered adolescent who didn't know how to handle her eagerness in front of the honorable, brave Sea Knights. (They were always present in the diplomatic gatherings, a perfect demonstration of the Sea Kingdom's strength and competence.)

Daria scolded herself internally. She had been a princess, for heavens' sake. She should know how to act properly regardless of what she was feeling by now.

  
When Lady Rein finally spoke again, her tone lacked hurt or annoyance. She sounded as formal as always.

"Lady River told me that people often lie together to soothe away their ache. To feel company, or... or to satiate their needs. Without needing love or affection to motivate them," she told Daria. "Whether they were strangers or friends. She said it was a kind of aid, and my job is to aid you no matter what, Beloved Daria."

Suddenly, Daria was pulled to the past, to the quiet nights and closed doors. She wondered if Lady Rein knew about her mother's _special_ relationship with Lady River.

Lady Rein then added something that Daria could not find surprising. "If Beloved Daria found the manner we lay in to be upsetting, then it's me who should apologize--"

"I didn't." Daria interrupted because the mere notion that Lady Rein would think that that night was her fault when she hadn't even pleasured herself -- when she hadn't even shed her knightly demeanor despite two of her fingers being knuckles-deep in Daria's dripping cunt -- was painful. "You did nothing wrong, Lady Rein. I promise."

"But you are upset," Lady Rein replied, eyebrows coming together for a second before she perked up as though she was readying herself for something. "Did... did you find the sight of me in that manner unpleasant, Beloved Daria? Was I not... competent?"

  
Lady Rein's willingness to speak clearly, to know what was bothering Daria despite that one of the answers that Daria could give might hurt her pride makes Daria's heart swell with warmth.

She smiled, moving so that she could caress Lady Rein's cheek.

She's warm, her brown hair framing both sides of her face.

She had a sharp chin, Daria absently noticed as she stroked her cheek with her thumb.

"I really don't deserve you, Lady Rein, do I?"

Lady Rein relaxed then, ease beaming in the genuine smile she returned. "You shall have me by your side, nonetheless, Beloved Daria."

 

  
Daria didn't plan to lie intimately with Lady Rein again. It just happened, much like the first time.

It happened because of the closeness coming from sleeping on the same bed.

Closeness between them had never been strange before. Lady Rein had practically carried her out of the royal hall during their escape, and all the way out of the kingdom's borders because her wounds had been dire.

Their blood had mixed and their rapid breaths had often fallen in and out of rhythm with one another's, but Lady Rein's hold had not faltered not even once despite her own wounds.

_"Stay strong, Beloved Princess. I will keep you safe," Lady Rein had whispered repeatedly._

(Her voice was Daria's anchor, Daria realized long ago. She was aware of the loss and the death that Hara inflicted upon her world, but Lady Rein's voice had kept her afloat. Breathing.

It was a glimmer of hope, though a false one without either of them realizing.)

  
They also had been sharing the same bed since they arrived into the protection of King Marseal, but that rainy night had been the first time they share intimacy, the first time Daria experienced such a burning escape.

And right now, as the looming winter released its winds to howl in the distance, Daria was desperate for that same escape.

So perhaps tonight the closeness was strange because Daria found herself unsettled by it.

Back to chest, Daria found the rise and fall of Lady Rein's chest enticing and the hardened peaks of her breasts rousing.

She found herself tempted, and that was when she tried to erase these weakening thoughts from her mind.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed that the itch to have Lady Rein hug her tightly again would stop creeping under her skin or lingering in her cunt.

But it didn't. And with a sweet reminder of Lady Rein's reassuring words from earlier, Daria reached behind her and grasped Lady Rein's hand.

  
It was easier than turning and asking Lady Rein to fuck her.

  
Lady Rein was instantly awake -- alerted. She's ready to get up and draw her sword, but Daria didn't let go and only waited in silence for Lady Rein to realize that there wasn't any danger.

When that happened, she pulled Lady Rein's hand to guide it to her breast and pressed it there.

Daria waited again. This time, for Lady Rein's answer as her heart pounded in her chest.

The knight took only a heartbeat before giving one. She hesitantly fit Daria's breast in her palm, and with how thin her nightgown was, the sensation was full that it drew a quiet gasp from Daria's mouth.

  
Afraid that she would lose the comfort if she let go, Daria kept her hand on Lady Rein's.

"What did you want to be?" Daria whispered, swallowing a whimper that would have embarrassed her. She clenched her hand around Lady Rein's, which in turn squeezed her breast.

"If not a knight of the sea, what would you have become?"

Lady Rein cleared her throat before answering, but her voice remained gruff from sleep.

She started kneading Daria's breast.

"A fisherwoman. Or a ships builder," she said naturally, not once pausing her motion that brought tears of both shame and relief to Daria's eyes.

"Lady River did not quite refuse," Lady Rein continued, "but I was not serious about it, either. I just..." Lady Rein was quiet for a moment, but she kept fondling Daria's breast. It made Daria lean onto her until there was no space left between them. "I suppose I just wanted to see whether I was truly free to choose the life I wanted or not."

"What made you feel unfree?"

Lady Rein was so warm, her frame bigger than Daria's that it was easy for Daria to consider it a welcoming embrace. Her scent wrapped around her fully when Lady Rein started working on her other breast.

Daria's legs twitched, a need to spread them and offer her needy, wet cunt to her knight alluring her, but she firmly restrained herself from doing that, from rubbing herself on Lady Rein.

"I was a child who just lost her family in the Great Tide, Beloved Daria. Nothing seemed fair to me at that time, not even Lady Rein's offer to make me her ward."

Lady Rein's steady voice actually managed to be the one thing preventing Daria from being consumed by the haze in her mind.

"I am sorry for your loss, Lady Rein."

Lady Rein chuckled softly. "It has been a long time, Beloved Daria."

"I know." Daria shakily nodded her head. "Thirteen years. It has been thirteen years since you came into Lady River's care." She was almost breathless when said that because her stubborn lust demanded more that now she started rubbing her thighs together.

"It feels like a lifetime ago." Lady Rein whispered, pinching her nipple through the fabric of her nightgown.

It was too much then, Daria let out a sudden whimper, then she finally turned to look at Lady Rein, her eyes had long adjusted to the darkness of the night.

Heat coiled in the pit of her stomach, arousal sticking to the inside of her thighs.

Daria held Lady Rein's shoulder, clenching her fingers once in a request.

Lady Rein accepted, she let Daria pull her on top of her without a flinch affecting her reassuring demeanor.

  
It almost made Daria feel pity on herself.

After having several admirers and potential suitors, she resigned to silently beg the last of her knights for a fuck. For a release that could free her from all her sorrows.

_Almost._

"Why didn't you become a fisherwoman or a ships builder? you could still have become either before starting your training."

Daria felt the soft mattress dip beneath her due to Lady Rein's weight on her, and immediately found that she loved the feeling.

It was like being stripped of everything and yet being safe, taken care of.

"Lady River said I could become the captain of the sea fleet if I wanted to be close to the sea so badly, but..."

Daria had Lady Rein exactly where she wanted her: settled nicely between her legs, one hand supporting part of her weight off Daria and the other resting on her hip.

And yet, Daria still clung to the possibility of resisting her needs and stopping this.

"But our sea fleet had become a joke," Daria finished for her, then quickly corrected herself. "Not anymore, I suppose. Hara is making changes."

Lady Rein resigned to a soft smile then. Or it felt like one.

  
Thinking about Hara should have angered her enough that the heat of her lust, expanding still, from her groin all the way to her toes, would have easily resolved into a dying flicker.

But Lady Rein was keeping her burning, merely by lying like that on top of her.

  
Daria bit the inside of her cheek. She was vaguely aware of the fact that Lady Rein did not really answer her question, but her focus was taken by the thought of lifting her nightgown.

She nervously did exactly that before she could think better of it.

She locked her legs around Lady Rein's hips, but with no tears or stormy emotions wrecking her attentiveness, Daria now noticed the tiny things that she had missed the first time.

Lady Rein's movements was impersonal as she coat two of her fingers with Daria's embarrassingly ample arousal.

The touch made Daria tense, almost gasp, but it was still clear enough that Lady Rein had meant it when she said that she was doing her duty.

When she finally pushed her fingers inside, Daria yelped. She dug her fingers and heels in Lady Rein's rigid figure.

The friction was painfully good, so good it made Daria writhe under her knight's obviously polite gaze.

Daria bit her lip when she felt her throat lumped with whimpers she didn't want to set free. She fixed her eyes on Lady Rein, taking the darkness as shield, but when Lady Rein added a third finger and started her pace, Daria was barely able to keep her eyes open and her mouth sealed.

She rocked her hips to match each and every one of Lady Rein's thrusts. She choked on her moans more than once, and yet still found enough, stubborn clarity to notice how Lady Rein was avoiding looking at her. How she was dreadfully quiet.

Daria's heart ached at that, but she was too ashamed and too needy to stop it, so she pressed Lady Rein's face down into her neck, and the older woman immediately kissed and nibbled at the tender flesh there.

Daria absentmindedly thought she should feel cold by the emotionless kisses, but she didn't. She felt humiliated, yes, but not enough to prevent her from rocking her hips harder, causing the sound of wetness to turn louder and louder.

 

  
Daria didn't want to talk about it this time. It was too real, and yet too easy to ignore.

She wondered if the loss she had been through because of her weaknesses made the shame easy to carry, to live with. Or if it was the royal life she had been born and grown into. There was normalcy that surrounded things such as ordering a servant or a guard to your bed with complete authority and not one bit of shame or strangeness to follow.

Daria wasn't quite sure, but she did promise herself that she would not let Lady Rein endure such a duty again.

  
Daria did well at fulfilling her promise until one day she headed for the foundry to see what was taking Lady Rein so long. They got new loads of armors and steal that needed to be taken care of or broken apart to save the good parts almost every week, but Lady Rein had never worked in the foundry past the lunch time.

  
Daria froze in her spot outside the small door when she heard rapid breathing and barely muffled groans, the meaning behind them as clear as the cold and the rain that the looming winter had been greeting them with.

Daria found herself at a loss for a second before she hurriedly and quietly retreated to the hut.

  
It wasn't a strange thing to encounter, far from it. The two of them had been living together in one small place for almost four years now, and it simply was impossible to say that they had never pleasured themselves. Separately.

(It had become to an arrangement naturally. Lady Rein would seek the privacy of the stool room at the end of the day, right before taking her bath. And Daria would never ask why she was late.

Daria herself had done it there sometimes, but she often took to rubbing her cunt against the sheets of their bed.)

  
Daria was tensed throughout the whole day. She was seized by odd mixture of nervousness and unexpected arousal because she had realized that that day was not the first time Lady Rein was late in the foundry during the past weeks.

That got Daria to think about one thing: Lady Rein could not restrain herself until she was within the privacy of the stool room. But maybe she was, but tending to her needs once wasn't enough because Daria had affected her, had showed her what she was deprived of. A caring, intimate touch.

  
Daria did her well not showing that she knew, but those thoughts quickly turned to an endless, chaotic stream of guilt and embarrassment. (Of memories that told Daria that she could never forget them even if she tried. Memories such as Lady Rein pulling her drenched fingers out of Daria's cunt once she finished riding overwhelming release.

Daria had softly nudged her to do so as she become sensitive, and Lady Rein complied immediately, but not without care. She had rubbed her swollen cunt gently to work out the lingering sparks of lust, which caused Daria to clench her thighs onto her, choke on a moan, and leave marks on Lady Rein's shoulder.

When she had thoroughly finished after that, Lady Rein returned to her spot on the bed beside Daria. She had wiped her fingers with her own cloth quietly, and offered her warmth again.)

  
Daria thought she might excuse the first time she lay intimately with Lady Rein, but the second time was sheer selfishness.

She had been feeling better, despite the lurking shame, but Lady Rein might be weighed down by unfulfillment now. Becaue of her.

Daria wanted to amend that, but it was easy thought of than done.

 

As Lady Rein was nicely settled on their bed, Daria was hesitant to even look at her direction.

  
The hut wasn't big or packed enough to allow her distractions, so it took her about two times of fiddling with their newly-washed clothes, and five minutes of brushing her curls before she lay beside Lady Rein.

The winds outside had gotten stronger, drops of rain fell every now and then. Her heart was hammering in her chest, pained by the nervousness.

Daria kept the candle burning, and she kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling as the noise in her mind got louder and louder.

Lady Rein noticed it even.

"Is something troubling you, Beloved Daria?"

"Yes!" Daria answered eagerly, almost without her control. She instantly regretted it.

She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, then turned to face Lady Rein with a spurt of courage motivating her.

"May I touch you?" She asked after a second of staring at Lady Rein's confused eyes, barely holding her shakiness back.

The question seemed to surprise Lady Rein. It's fleeting but it made Daria think that she probably should not make a habit out of surprising her knight.

"Of--Of course, Beloved Daria," Lady rein replied, and the unmistakable change to her expressions, from rested to formal, was painfully obvious.

"May I touch you the same way you touched me?" Daria then added, thoroughly regretting doing this while the candle was still washing them with soft light. "You've taken care of me so--so well, but demanded nothing in return. I want to repay your kindness, Lady Rein."

Lady Rein Blushed as realization downed upon her, lips parted in shock. "It is... it is my job, Beloved Daria." She cleared her throat, and seemed to be gathering herself. "I could never demand anything from you for doing my job."

She's leaning on her elbows with the sheets partially covering her body. Her nightshirt was as thin as Daria's nightgown, and that glimpse of her tensed, strong muscles was all Daria needed to imagine how Lady Rein would feel against her while pleasure consumed her like it did Daria.

Daria let her eyes wander then, swallowing thickly. She had expected this answer from Lady Rein, and she was prepared.

"And is it not my job to look after my people? As their princess? You are the only one left, Lady Rein, and I am capable of taking care of you."

Lady Rein attempted to answer that, but ended up with furrowed brows and even more confusion.

"You have not bed anyone ever since we left home, and neither have I. Until that night. I know we have never spoken of such matters, but... but it is like what Lady River said. People find comfort in each other's intimate company, and I think it is unjust that you have not felt that in such a long time because of your duty to me."

Lady Rein's eyebrows shot upward. "I... I thought you weren't allowed to bed anyone before marriage. To--To prevent the making of a child."

Daria lost the stream of her words, her focus shattering.

"Oh." Daria had forgotten that they had a life before this one. "There are a variety of methods that princesses use to be safe from that, Lady Rein."

That's probably what her mother had done, unless Lady River could not sire children.

That thought made Daria frown. She wasn't sure, and that bothered her because -- as someone who grew up in Lady River's company -- she should at least know if she was able to sire children or was affected by injuries or fate. Like Lord Drake.

Almost instantly, Daria found herself upset with herself for even wondering about such a private matter.

Lady River was a good person, and Daria didn't want to dishonor her memory by frivolous, childish annoyance from the past.

Daria sighed before speaking again. "It was expected of me that I would remain untouched until I am married, but I cannot say that I agreed with that thought, Lady Rein. Moreso, I think everyone in the palace, including my parents and Lady River, knew about it. But they kept quiet. I suppose they had faith in me that I would be careful."

Lady Rein mumbled. "I did not know."

Daria shook her head subtly, refocusing her thoughts. She inched closer to Lady Rein.

"Lady Rein, you are stuck with me. Are you really going to remain deprived of the same bliss you have aided me with when you could have it fully right now?"

Lady Rein gazed at her attentively, but kept silent.

And though it wasn't something that Daria would later consider with pride, but she found herself getting bold by that silence. Bold enough to extend a hesitant hand to Lady Rein's waist.

  
Lady Rein was oozing with warmth, Daria noted, her heart must be pounding, muscles were taut.

"We would be safe, you would not have to worry about me bearing your child."

Daria stroked Lady Rein's flesh with her thumb, merely to affirm her words, but that seemed to only send a blaze of shock through Lady Rein.

Or it could be her words that did that.

Lady Rein stood abruptly. "We cannot, Beloved Daria. I cannot, I should not." She spoke in a hurry. "I would never dishonor you like this."

Her words brought a pang to Daria's heart, her eyes widened and pain waited squeezed her lungs.

_Was that she had done to Lady Rein?_

But then Lady Rein continued, and Daria realized what she meant.

"You are a princess of the sea, I am not even a child of Onn. I was born in the shores, and lived there for eleven years, that status will remain with me until I die, Beloved Daria. Same as yours, the rightful heir to the Sea Kingdom."

(Daria had her hand on her chest, a sigh of relief escaping her lips, but Lady Rein did not seem to notice amidst her panic.)

Lady Rein finished. "It would not be proper of me to bed you when I'm sworn to serve you. I could never demand that kind of aid from you, no matter what I need."

Despite the painful rhythm of her heartbeats, Daria realized that Lady Rein did not say she disliked the idea of sating her needs with Daria's help.

So she sat on her knees and extended her hand for Lady Rein. "Come to bed, Lady Rein," she said softly. "Please."

Lady Rein was silent, face and neck flushed. She was hesitant, but complied when Daria repeated her pleading.

Daria held her in place strongly.

"You were going to be my queen. You _are_ my princess, I am to treat you with the utmost of respect and honor that your status require--"

Daria kissed her then, deeply because Lady Rein gasped quietly. She gripped Lady Rein's shoulders with shaky hands to pull her in, to assure her that she could kiss her back.

And Lady Rein did, but that seemed to strike her with more panic and she pulled away.

"Let me take care of you, show you my gratitude," Daria said, holding Lady Rein's gaze.

"You do not have to."

Daria nodded, leaning in again. "I know, I want to," she whispered against Lady Rein's parted lips before kissing them again.

One light kiss after another, the softness of Lady Rein's lips was weakening, but Daria trailed more peaks along Lady Rein's jaw to give her a moment to think.

Lady Rein's chest was heaving now, her heat the most weakening Daria had felt in a long time that she couldn't help but to straddle her thighs as she nibbled her earlobe. Her nightgown rode up due to her movement.

Lady Rein tensed in response, whimpering quietly as her hands shot to grip Daria.

Her breaths quickened and Daria could sense her resolve falling apart.

"It is all right, Lady Rein," Daria said in a silvery whisper, nuzzling at her neck. "You deserve to rest as well. To be pleasured and taken care of." Daria rocked her hips then, almost absently because it felt so good to be held to tightly like that by Lady Rein. "My honorable knight, you have kept me safe for so long, let me repay you."

Lady Rein muffled her groan, but she tightened her hold around Daria even more and pushed her into the mattress.

Daria yelped, but Lady Rein's strength, her weight on top of her, and the strange look she found in her eyes when she looked up -- dark, piercing and deep -- were enchanting.

Lady Rein was breathing shallowly, evidently trying to resist.

"Take me." Daria let out.

  
Lady Rein kissed her first this time. She kissed her with unleashed hunger, pinning her down with her body and her warmth and her clearly demanding desire.

It surprised Daria, the sheer need was apparent in Lady Rein's open-mouthed kisses, in her hot, wet cunt that Daria could faintly feel.

  
She rested her hands against Lady Rein's chest, feeling as though she was being laid open for the knight to take her in any way she desired.

Daria moaned because of that thought, and she trembled upon feeling Lady Rein's arousal dampening her nightshirt.

  
Lady Rein devoured Daria's mouth, her tongue pushing in with a demand when Daria gasped.

Daria sucked on it, suddenly desperate to please.

Lady Rein had a hand on her breast then, kneading harshly and wantonly as groans remained stuck in her throat. She squeezed the plump flesh with undeniable authority unlike the last two times where she was hesitant then gentle in the way she followed Daria's reactions.

This time, she touched Daria as if she was hers to do whatever she pleased and Daria couldn't forbid her anything. If only because it was her right after restraining herself for such a long time.

It wasn't quite a strange thought. Perhaps one that Daria hadn't thought of in a long time, but not strange at all. Not when she had often woken up wet and sweaty because her mind kept showing her how powerful and capable the Sea Knights were, how they could fuck her nice and good, better than any prince or princess her parents would choose for her to wed.

Daria had forgotten that thought as she passed the last adolescent years and started focuing on becoming the best ruler of the Sea Kingdom.

  
Daria burnt with a new kind of lust now, she twisted with the need to feel Lady Rein's wet cunt against hers, to have it rubbing against hers without giving any regard to what might happen because of that.

It was a good sensation, Daria realized absently, wetness dripping from her cunt seemingly endlessly as Lady Rein started sucking at her neck.

  
She tried to tame herself. She was enjoying this, uncontrollably enjoying all of Lady Rein's expressions of her need that had been repressed for four years when she should be focusing on pleasuring Lady Rein.

Lady Rein grunted, thrusting her hips once, and claimed Daria's mouth again with a deep kiss.

 

Daria mewled, breaking for air when Lady Rein thrust her hips again, and again, until she found her pace.

Daria found herself falling into a haze of her own as Lady Rein bit her lip then her neck. The stings of pain were present, but they didn't quite hurt. They made Daria writhe.

Lady Rein was relentless with, kissing and biting everywhere there was skin exposed until Daria's breasts were revealed and she was fascinated by them.

Daria felt her release approaching suddenly when Lady Rein took one of her nipples between her lips and sucked hungrily. Her brows knitted together, eyes closed in sheer satisfaction, and she hummed.

Daria could not mistake that expression on Lady Rein's, the difference between it and the times she sucked her nipples before -- out of duty -- was evident.

  
Daria was close to panting, her walls repeatedly rippling.

Lady Rein released her nipple with a pop, and took the other eagerly, sighing with relief through her nose.

  
With that, Daria knew she would not last. She knew because this time, Lady Rein was more than a warm finger for her to ride. This time, Lady Rein was as hungry and desperate as her.

This time, Lady Rein was fully with her in chasing after a comforting release.

  
Daria was covered with sweat that was cold enough to draw shivers to her body, but she found her focus, and with shaky hands, she gripped Lady Rein's shoulders to softly push her.

  
Lady Rein stopped immediately, flinching as though she was on the feeble line between awakefulness and numbing, weakening haze.

She's tensed, trembling, and Daria realized she might think she had changed her mind, so she held her gaze, and caressed her cheek as she pushed her into her back and straddled her hips.

"I am supposed to be the one doing that," Daria whispered against her mouth before she took off her gown. "Let me."

Lady Rein's hands were instantly on her bare body, touching everywhere she could. She groaned loud as she relaxed on the mattress, one foot on the bed to support her position since they were close to the edge. Her grips were rough, pressing hard on Daria's flesh as though she feared Daria would disappear from her grasps.

Daria leaned to kiss her neck, hoping to quench her thirst with each kiss, with each suck and lick. Hoping to assure her that she would see this through, that she would fulfill her promise.

Daria felt courage and let her hands wander on Lady Rein's body. She caressed her sides, and touched the underside of her breast as she nibbled at her throat.

Lady Rein scratched her back, and repeatedly tightened and eased her hold around Daria while her hips jerked more than once.

Daria sensed how already desperate she was, and worked her way down as quick as possible without failing to lick and kiss the exposed skin of her chest with a clear want, desire, affection.

Her arousal dampened a part of Lady Rein's nightshirt, but she couldn't quite move hastily as Lady Rein fit her buttocks in her palms and squeezed hard. With each press, her fingers dipped closer to Daria's needy cunt.

Daria sat back on Lady Rein's hips then, with as much quickness as she could use without surprising Lady Rein or interrupting the sensations clearly searing through her.

She wanted to ease Lady Rein's pain, but the older woman seemed resigned to have anything. Just anything. Even if that anything was simply touching Daria freeily like that.

That was not enough, Daria thought.

She wanted to give Lady Rein the exact same bliss she had felt. The same numbing and satisfying rapture.

Gently, Daria kissed Lady Rein again before climbing off of her and off the bed.

  
Hesitation struck Daria when she settled between Lady Rein's legs on the cold floor.

Daria shuddered, not only because of the cold but because she feared of failing to pleasure her knight, and feared that this might not be what Lady Rein desired. But Lady Rein looked at her with widened eyes -- with darkened eyes.

That was the only touch of assureness Daria needed.

  
Daria leaned down, tongue already out for a taste.

Lady Rein inhaled a sharp breath, her hips jerked unsteadily, which gave Daria better angle to her cunt.

There was a lot of wetness. There was endless warmth and wonderful scent that made Daria open her mouth to kiss the flesh lovingly over and over.

Daria then lapped the wetness thoroughly and only got more in return.

  
A voice in her head told Daria that this was no position for a princess, but Daria only hummed with pride when Lady Rein tangled her hand in Daria's hair without hesitation.

She took Lady Rein's swollon bud into her mouth, and that was when Lady Rein pressed her face hard into her and rocked her hips with a clear resolve to _take_.

  
Surprisingly, the motion made Daria moan, her cunt dripped again in response. And the ache lingering in her knees only made the need to pleasure Lady Rein shoot through her and it was so satisfying.

So fulfilling that it was all that Daria could focus on.

  
Lady Rein was practically fucking her face, leaning on her elbow for support, and yet Daria opened her mouth and offered her tongue eagerly nonetheless. She let Lady Rein's strong hand on her head guide her until all of a sudden she went rigid, her fingers clenching on Daria's head to the point where it hurt.

Tears pooled in Daria's closed eyes due the sting of the pain, her heart raced, but she changed nothing about her posture as Lady Rein rode her release. Her thrusts turned long and slower.

 

When she finished, her hand went partially limp on Daria's head. She was breathing heavily, and Daria was as far from composed as her, wetness coated her mouth and chin, and her realization of how obscene the thing she had just done, the thing she had just let happen, struck her with a delicious sensation.

She was going to be a queen, and _queens don't kneel to anyone, not even to the king,_ her mother had told her once.

But Lady Rein was not anyone. And her mother had knelt in front Lady River, who was seated on the throne in the darkness of the night, while Daria's father watched with a smile on his face.

So perhaps her mother was lying, or neither one of them ever had what it took to be a queen.

  
Daria met Lady Rein's dark eyes. They shone with bewilderment and relief, and her hand was gentle on the back of Daria's head.

Daria reached a finger to her chin to coat it with Lady Rein's arousal, and then pushed it into her mouth as she stood.

Her knees were shaky, but she was holding one of Lady Rein's thighs hard for steadiness.

Lady Rein watched her attentively, mouth agape.

 

Daria wasn't sure about what she's about to do, but she wanted it. And Lady Rein seemed to read her mind because she hurriedly pulled her into her embrace and kissed her her mouth hungrily.

  
Daria melted in Lady Rein's strength as she carried her and laid her on their bed. She sucked the same finger Daria had, and she pulled away only so she could take off her nightshirt.

Daria opened her legs in welcoming, and helped Lady Rein settle herself nicely so that they could rub their bare cunts against each other's.

A stray thought warned her of the possible outcome, but Daria paid it no mind.

Daria felt free, as free as Lady Rein's neglected desires.

  
Upon the first thrust, Lady Rein grunted in pleasure. She then started a rough pace that left Daria keening and desperate to fall into ecstasy. With her.

 

  
After the sweetest haze faded along with the night and the most fulfilling slumber, Daria opened her eyes to see an empty bed, and the soft shower of raindrops.

She's still sleepy and the grey shade of the world outside the window did not help her know the time. She did hear distant hammering, and that told her that Lady Rein must be working in the foundry.

 

She lay on her back then, hugging the sheets closer to shield her naked body from the cold. There was a reminder of last night almost in every part of her body: tiny bruises and soreness. Residues of arousal sticking to her thighs and cunt.

These reminders screamed with the fact that she had laid with Lady Rein fully, that they had tickled the odds of her ending up bearing a child by doing that.

Lady Rein's child. A royal child, her child that in another life would have inherited the sea throne after her.

Daria didn't want to fear anything more than the danger lurking somewhere far and somewhere near, but her heart swelled with heavy worry much slower than it took her to release with Lady Rein thrusting her hips against hers wantonly.

  
When Lady Rein didn't take her usual break during midday, Daria knew that the dread she had felt filling the hut was not baseless.

She went outside and made her way to the foundry fast. The drizzle had not ceased not even for a moment, and that probably meant there were would be several tiny swamps around the area.

It was warm inside the foundry, the hammering sound stronger. There was a sheen of sweat on Lady Rein's skin, hair pulled back to not get in the way.

There was a frown on her face, one that did not come out of concentration.

"Lady Rein, you missed our tea time." Daria said, unintentionally cheerily. She regretted it immediately. She perked up, and walked toward the knight with as much confidence as she could muster. "Have you even taken any rest? You look exhausted."

"My apologies, Beloved Daria, time slipped away from me." Lady Rein answered without raising her gaze. Her shirt had black stains, suggesting that she had been here since a long time, perhaps since long before Daria woke up.

Daria couldn't help but to look at her expectantly because she did not know what else to say.

She hadn't planned to avoid talking about last night, but this heaviness lingering in the air was foreign to her.

Lady Rein had always been easy to talk to. She had always been straightforward and clear, but now she was silent.

Slowly, Daria's foolish smile faded from her face.

"I have brought trouble to your heart, haven't I, Lady Rein?"

  
Lady Rein answered with a sigh after a moment of aching silence. She laid the hammer down.

"You have not." Her voice had a hint of raspiness that reminded Daria of how she sounded while fucking her.

Daria smiled sadly. "You are not a good liar, Lady Rein. You could not lie even when you needed to fool Hara, remember?"

Lady Rein looked at her then, but it was a quick glance. Like she couldn't bear to look at her. Her familiar eyes had shone with something that tugged at Daria's heart.

"I have crossed a line last night. One that I should have never crossed as a Sea Knight. I have an oath to honor, a promise to keep, Beloved Daria, and I failed at both."

Daria frowned.

"And who to say you have dishonored your oath and broken your promise, Lady Rein? You have done nothing wrong."

"I selfishly chased after my desire with no regard to your safety and your status. That _is_ against every rule of my oath," Lady Rein wore a serious expression on her face as she spoke.

Daria took a second before replying, but when she did, she stressed every word with confidence and precision. "It is not against the rules if I willingly allowed it." But they were merely a ghostly burst from the past that resolved into the intensity that Lady Rein's gaze turned to. "You say I am your princess, your rightful ruler, and I know you had not done anything wrong." Daria approached her, but then hesitated in fear that she would make Lady Rein uncomfortable. "It... it is not shameful to fulfill your desires, Lady Rein. To feel selfish sometimes."

Those last words stung a little, but she continued, forcing the tremor out of her voice. "No one would judge you for that. I have not, and I won't."

" _I_ would judge myself," Lady Rein then answered, locking eyes with her. "I knew better than to put you in danger, and yet I ignored that for the sake of my pleasure." She paused, but then when she continued, Daria could swear she sounded cruel. "We might be safe for now, Beloved Daria, but we can't afford to have you bearing a child."

Or perhaps it was that Daria felt as though she was being scolded for doing something that she knew she should not do.

She pursed her lips together, but kept her eyes fixed on Lady Rein's as inescapable hurt and embarrassment seared through her.

Lady Rein seemed to sense the weight her words delivered, she lowered her gaze for a moment, cursing.

"When I took my oath, I knew that I will fulfill it until the end. No matter what needs or desires that could cloud my judgement, I knew that I will keep my charge as my only priority. But then you--"

She stopped abruptly, the words clearly on the tip of her tongue. Then she sighed, shaking her head. And yet Daria knew what she couldn't say.

"But then I ruined everything." Daria finished for her, her vision blurring.

"You _insisted_."

"i was trying to help! I wanted to make you feel good like you did to me," Daria spoke angrily now. "But if you were so inclined to honoring your oath, Lady Rein, then perhaps you should not have been weak."

There was truth in her words, maybe. But Daria regretted them anyway because they took the blame from above her head and draped it fully on Lady Rein.

Lady Rein's rage flared up, Daria could sense its flames burning her. She approached her now, darkened eyes set on her. "Weak?" She began, each step she took made Daria's heart shudder until it was pacing. "The one thing I have been thinking about for the last three weeks, the one thing I desired to no end, had been fucking that sweet cunt of yours as much as I pleased. In any way I pleased."

Daria almost choked on a whimper. She kept her mouth shut and eyes fixed on Lady Rein's eyes so as to not show her own weakness, her own embarrassing weakness that had warm flutters twisting and coiling and sinking right into her cunt.

Lady Rein raised her hand to faintly touch the bruise visible on Daria's neck. It was almost sudden, and if it was someone else, Daria might have flinched. But she knew, she knew Lady Rein would not hurt her.

Daria blinked fast, forbidding images from lingering in her mind. Images of Lady Rein sucking her neck while she released all over her cunt.

"I wanted you, I wanted you so desperately, and yet last night, I was trying... so hard to not let that happen because I swore that I would protect you from everything and everyone. Even from myself, even from yours. Is that weakness to you, Beloved?!" Her touch sent a stream of shudders through Daria's body, but it was the authority in the way she called her that made warmth linger in her groin.

_Beloved._

Shakily, Daria tried to soothe Lady Rein's inexplicable anger at herself, at her. "Your desire could not have harmed me. I wanted you in return, Lady Rein."

"you are not listening!" lady Rein let out through gritted teeth. "I could never harm you, but Last night I did. By succumbing to my own selfish needs when you are still in danger because of Hara, I let you down."

Daria furrowed her brows, how could Lady Rein think like that?

"I let _her_ down," Lady Rein continued, bitter and clearly aching. "She trusted me with her name, with the strength and honor of Onn. She trusted me to keep them safe but I failed at protecting them from Hara, then she trusted me to keep you safe -- they died thinking that you are safe with me, she died thinking I am strong enough to protect you. But I let her down."

It all cleared up now, the real extent of Lady Rein's sense of duty, her feelings and fondness of Lady River.

Daria had failed to see them before when they were right in front of her.

"I am still safe with you," Daria whispered, irreversibly understanding Lady Rein's pain. She reached her trembling hands to hold Lady Rein's strong arms. "I still trust you, Lady Rein."

Lady Rein closed her eyes and lowered her head then, shaking it slightly. "You should not." She seemed defeated.

"Why not?" Daria inched closer, a tinge of stubbornnness and sadness washing her.

"Because how am I supposed to protect you when all I can think of is fucking you until you can barely stand?" Lady Rein answered, her eyes shimmering with the hint of tears. And brimming with shame. "How could I protect you when I have lost my honor to my selfish needs?"

Daria's heart sank into her stomach, not out of fear, but because Lady Rein was baring herself fully in front of her. It was a pang in Daria's heart because was she really incompetent that Lady Rein needed to show her how faithful she was, how pure her loyalty was?

Lady Rein sighed then, retreating to sit on a chair without noticing Daria falling apart.

"I wanted to make Lady River proud, that was why I accepted her offer to join the Sea Knights. I wanted to repay her kindness to me by protecting what she loved the most, _whom_ she loved the most. And I failed at that long ago, and I failed again now. _I_ ruined everything, Beloved Daria."

Sudden realization dawned upon Daria.

"You knew about my mother and Lady River." She said absentmindedly.

Lady Rein nodded. "I suspected it a few months after I came to live with Lady River, but I was not sure until after I started my training," she informed Daria, who knew about it much, much later than Lady Rein and she was the Princess in line to inherit the throne.

"I confronted her about it," Lady Rein continued. "She told me that they were friends since they were children along with your father. She said that their bond -- between all three of them -- knew no filth or dishonor, that they loved each other dearly."

Daria's eyes stung as she stared at Lady Rein, who was a perfect embodiment of the Sea Knights.

"I felt her love for me then, Beloved Daria. She sounded so sincere when she spoke about them, the same way she looked and spoke to me."

 _How could Lady River not be proud of her?_ Daria thought, her heart swelling achingly as she remembered her journey thus far. As she remembered the stream of impossible dreams that she had been stuck in.

_Her coronation ceremony. Her city prospering far bigger than her parents could ever imagine during her reign. The neighbouring kingdoms begging for established relations with her, with the kingdom she was going to evolve._

A faint voice told her that that was what Hara had been doing to her kingdom while she had been hiding in a forgotten hut.

Daria internally snapped at that, focusing on Lady Rein who couldn't even raise her head high.

She was not like Hara.

Hara wanted the Sea Kingdom to be feared, not respected.

Daria wanted...

She wanted...

 _She_ wanted to be respected. To be seen as the Greatest Queen the Sea Kingdom had ever had. And yet she failed to see what kind of princess she truly was.

 

At that moment, Daria thought that it was only fair that she bared her weaknesses in front of Lady Rein.

"If... if that's what you think of what had happened, if you believe that you have lost your honor for simply desiring, then so have I, Lady Rein," Daria said firmly, stepping forward to kneel in front of Lady Rein. She wanted to see her face.

She felt shudders attempting to seize her, but that's only because she had a new resolve and it was the strongest she felt in a long time.

She touched Lady Rein's chin, self-assured by her courage to accept reality.

"I have failed to understand you before, to understand your oath and what it meant to you, and there is only myself to blame for that." Daria rubbed her thumb without her notice, then hastily stopped when she did. "I-- I know that I cannot tell you to forget and pretend like nothing happened last night, or-- or to accept it, to accept your desires. But I can hope that you will forgive yourself, Lady Rein, for in my eyes, you are still my honorable knight. I... I can only hope that you fill forgive me."

The dark glimmer residing deep in Lady Rein's irises softened then.

Daria strengthened her heart as she continued. "It was I who failed you. It was I who failed my parents and Lady River. It was I who failed myself, Lady Rein."

Daria squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, before locking eyes with Lady Rein. "For years I dreamt about my reign, but in a moment, just one. When Hara attacked and I knew she was stronger than me, that dream faded and all I could think of was being away from her while the Sea Knights and my guards took care of her. I wanted to be safe and alive instead of fighting for my right. Do you think you would be proud to serve such a queen?"

Daria found hardship in admitting her flaws, so she quickly continued. "I don't deserve it, Lady Rein. My kingdom. I really don't, and I think I have known that the moment I lost it."

Confusion slowly started to shine in Lady Rein's eyes.

Determination grew within Daria, as evidently as the descending cold of Winter, ease following in suit. Daria slowly lowered her hands to Lady Rein's strong thighs, she placed them chastely while holding her gaze. "I cannot keep pretending that I have, that I had, what it takes to rule the Sea Kingdom, Lady Rein, I cannot continue with that when I know my shameful weaknesses."

Lady Rein was listening to her, wrinkles faintly lining her forehead.

"But I can move forward. Start again, and-- and perhaps get stronger. Become someone you could be proud of regardless of what title I carry."

Lady Rein was clearly puzzled by Daria's words then, eyes searching Daria's for an explanation.

"After all, you are all I have left." Daria's heart beat faster now as her world unfolded. "And I--I want to make you proud, just like you have made them proud. Just like you will always make them proud."

  
Daria stood when Lady Rein gave no answer, threading her fingers together nervously. She should wait for Lady Rein to say something, anything. but Lady Rein was gazing at her with unreadable look in her eyes, and Daria's mind was set. It was now, this moment was the new beginning.

"What would that make of us, Beloved Daria?"

Knots coiled in Daria's stomach.

She was beginning something, a life of uncertainty as the last of her royal identity fell off her shoulders without a sound.

That made her afraid, but perhaps this time she could keep going even if fear tried to cripple her.

"You will always be my Beloved Knight, Lady Rein. I won't demand you to shed your armor, rest assured." She began with a soft smile, a hesitant one. "I won't demand you to leave or break your oath, I won't persuade you to fulfill your needs or demand you to view me as anything you do not want. I trust that you will treat me with the same respect and dignity you have always shown me." She cleared her throat, doubts of what she was doing already lurking like the shadows of Hara. "I--I hope you trust me again, Lady Rein. I hope you trust that I will honor you and your oath until the last day of my life."

  
When Lady Rein didn't give a reply, Daria bowed her head, and went under the rain with a trembling heart and shaky breaths.

It didn't escape her that she was escaping the need to ignore all that she had just said and return into the feeble comfort of a ruined palace; the ghostly image that had been draped over their hut because she was a Princess of the Sea.

That image had been washed by the rain now, it felt. the shower had gotten a little heavier, Daria hadn't noticed until she was outside the foundry and instantly dampened by it.

Daria let it cool her, clear away the things she had clung to -- a sense of freedom seeped into their places.

Then she felt movement behind her. Strong arms wrapped around her gently, and warmth shielded her from the wisps of sharp Winter winds.

  
"You might catch a cold, Beloved Daria," Lady Rein whispered in her hair.

Daria smiled, tears rushing to fall easily as if she hadn't been holding them with a tight grip for the past moment. And as for the sobs stuck in her throat, Daria did her best to ease them down because she was to be strong from now on. Only strong as she searched for what she could be.

"I won't." Daria answered with confidence because how could she catch a cold when Lady Rein was holding her like that. "I know you won't let that happen."

Lady Rein nodded, pulling her closer. "I will keep you safe." She then hesitantly placed her hand on Daria's stomach while they were getting soaked with the rain. "I will keep both of you safe, I promise you with my honor and my life."

At that, Daria's sobs broke free and she turned in Lady Rein's arms to hug her tightly.

Perhaps she could break down for one last time.


End file.
